Through the Looking Glass (TXT x Itzy)

thirty-eight

Once the warm welcome was over, Taehyun sleepily dragged himself to the bathroom to prepare, while Ryujin ripped Beomgyu's door open excitedly, only to find the room empty.

Her shoulders sagged as she realised this must mean he was back in the hospital, but Yeji pushed past her to check the room, heading to the window to check the window sill and searching the room for anything that might kill them or something.

"This place is pretty cool, hm?" Ryujin asked as she casually leaned against the doorframe. Yeji was staring out the window, studying the gentle streetlights with a child-like curiosity.

"It's small, cramp, dirty, cheap," Yeji rattled off, but turned with a soft look on her face, "But it feels like a home."

Then she sighed, "But it's not a home for you or me. We need to return to the castle. You need to get ready for your next test, you need to prepare to take the throne, or at least brace yourself if you don't. This-there isn't time for foolish, selfish wants."

"You're so strict," Ryujin sighed, "I can really let my hair down here, you know?"

Shooting her a look, Yeji swiftly walked towards the door, and said, "We really should go. This is not our home."

After a minute of intense staring, Ryujin's eyebrows furrowed and she gave in.

-

And that sure was the shortest trip to Seoul she ever had. She made sure to leave a note for Beomgyu, just to let him know she visited, but Ryujin doubted he would have the chance to see it until some time.

The rest of her time was filled with training, preparation, and anything that could fix her boredom. Reading helped, but she kept going back to the diary, one that was too detailed yet too good to be true, wondering if she could have freedom like that. Nervous jitters kept her awake at night too, her fear of failure a lot to manage.

Whatever, whatever, she tried to brush it off. But if she didn't succeed, was she worth anything?

-

"I have the date of the next test-"
"Oh thank god."

Ryujin was planking in her bedroom to entertain herself and was trying to get at least a record of ten minutes or higher when Yeji threw the doors open and announced that.

It had been a few days since they had popped into the well and came back literally two hours later (with a soda can in their pockets), Yeji did her best to distract herself, which meant either ignoring Ryujin or making her busy.

So when the captain finally could talk to her, Ryujin was pretty pleased. And when she had a date for the last test, she was even more thrilled.

Until Yeji actually told her, and her blood ran cold. It was closer than she expected, though she did want it to be soon, she didn't expect it to be in a weeks time. Once a week was over, it meant she had only three days to spend her time as a free person before she had to either shoulder large responsibilities or watch them be passed to someone else.

And also, she only had three days to spend with Beomgyu. And after that, she might not ever see him again.

It was terrifying, to be standing at a crossroad. One that had heavy consequences should she choose wrongly, that could cause her to regret forever.

But we'll be okay, Ryujin whispered to herself as she bundled herself in a blanket that night, rocking back and forth like she used to when she was young and her mother was going berserk.

We'll be okay, except there was no we in the equation, only herself.